A Charlottesville/Albemarle Area RE Blog tracking the market's Boom Bubble Bust Bounce, from 2008 to 2013. The second half of 2010 saw a steep downward spiral in sales; 2011 saw sales volume at 13 yr lo with prices dropping each Quarter. 2012 began with even lower prices which resulted in an uptick in Y/Y sales, and mid-2012 saw "Carpe Diem" trumping "Caveat Emptor." 2013: Booming. Are we a "Protected Market" once again? Time will tell.
* Check out the microblogging on Twitter: @CvilleBubble *

Friday, February 20, 2009

The Hook: From "On the Block" to the Auction Block

The Hook reports that a home they recently featured in the column "On the Block" now faces foreclosure auction.

The Albemarle County property at 200 George Rogers Road in Key West had an asking price of $499K; the current owners paid $495K in 2005.

At the time The Hook story appeared, the tax assessment was $460,700K.

The 2009 assessment has dropped to $424K.

It's always bad news when the tax man, who wants as much cash as he can get, thinks a property is worth less than what the seller thinks it is. Current buyers, however, don't give much credence to what the tax man thinks, as the figures are based on sales that happened before the current snail's pace took over, property values plummeted nationwide, and all hell broke loose on September 15, leaving the national and global economies in a condition that will take years to normalize.

Va. Housing Development Authority market data for the local Realtors Assn. indicates rising foreclosures, declining prices, then "correction" at least 12 months away.Comparisons: See Current Median Home Prices in Cville, Alb, other parts of VA, and 20 other markets.

Home prices likely lower in 2011, in 85% of the United States' 381 metropolitan areas - PMI Group. Includes graphs.VP Biden - We "Misread the Economy" - VideoThe number of foreclosures keeps rising because mortgageholders can't afford the modifications. Read the data.

Halsey Minor, King of The Tyvek Tower, is being sued not just by contractors, but by the funding bank. TheLandmark Mess continues. City claims it will not bail out the blight on the landscape and a real contrast to the $7.5 million in bricks at the base of the steel girders.